The JQQQ fund follows the issuer-sponsored model, meaning Janus Henderson issues and manages the fund, Centrifuge provides the blockchain infrastructure and Nasdaq licenses the index to track. This differs from third-party stock tokens, which may be backed by shares held in custody or structured as separate instruments tracking stock prices, and whose investors do not necessarily own the underlying shares or receive shareholder rights.
The launch comes amid an escalating debate over who gets to tokenize traditional securities. Most recently, 22 companies objected to plans for blockchain-based trading of their shares on the OKX-ICE venue, adding to a debate over whether issuers should have a say when their stocks are tokenized.
"As investors explore new ways to access markets through digital infrastructure, demand continues to grow for exposure to established, transparent benchmarks," said Sean Wasserman, head of index product management at Nasdaq.
JQQQ follows the introduction of a similar onchain index fund product last year, the Janus Henderson Anemoy S&P 500 Fund (SPXA), which was the first tokenized index fund licensed by the S&P Dow Jones Indices.
"Tokenization becomes much more powerful when the assets investors want to own can also become building blocks for an onchain financial system," said Anil Sood, chief strategy and growth officer at Centrifuge.
The fund also shows how tokenization is moving beyond digital versions of existing investments toward products built to operate on blockchains from the start. Such funds could eventually allow investors to use their holdings as collateral for loans or move them between blockchain-based financial applications, subject to regulatory requirements and platform support.